Thunder down Cavs 100-83

Russell Westbrook posted his 107th triple double in his career, leading the Thunder to their 13th win of the year, defeating the Cleveland Cavaliers 100-83.

It was a big performance from Russell, as well as an impressive outing by the Oklahoma City defense. The Thunder are now 13-7 on the season, up to fourth in the very tight Western Conference.

With his 107th triple double, Westbrook tied Jason Kidd with third all-time in NBA history. He finished with 23 points, 19 rebounds, and 15 assists.

Oklahoma City also finished with a season high 11 blocks, as they were active around the rim defensively all game.

It was a slow start to the game, as Oklahoma City had no energy to begin this game, while the Cavaliers were uncharacteristically on fire with their outside shooting. It wasn’t until midway through the second quarter, Westbrook led the Thunder on a scoring tear to get back within just two points right before halftime, while being down as much as 11 points in that first half.

Oklahoma City built off that run to end the second quarter, playing well on both ends in the second half. They held the Cavaliers to just 15 points in the third quarter, only giving up a total of 36 points in the second half. On the other end, the Thunder put up 53 points in the second half, fully in control that whole second half.

Paul George was in foul trouble all night, picking up his fourth foul just 13 seconds into the third quarter. Though he only played 24 minutes, he put up 18 points on eight for 13 from the field.

Jerami Grant stepped up with Paul George on the bench, pouring in 21 points in 33 minutes.

Oklahoma City also had some very nice contributions from their bench players like Deonte Burton and Raymond Felton. This team has a lot of depth and Billy Donovan is not afraid to throw all kinds of different rotations in there. Even Abdel Nader got some time in, checking in at the beginning of the fourth quarter.

“I thought we got a lot of contributions from a lot of guys,” Thunder head coach Billy Donovan said. “I thought at the end of that third, beginning of the fourth quarter, I give those bench guys a lot of credit for keeping themselves ready, and they certainly gave us a great jolt to end the third and start the fourth.”

Oklahoma City bounced back tonight with a win, after a tough home loss to the Denver Nuggets this past Saturday. The Thunder will look to build off this win, as they will play the young Atlanta Hawks here in Chesapeake Energy Arena on Friday, Nov. 30.

Keys To The Game

Bench Play: A

Billy Donovan gave the bench ton of opportunities tonight, and it paid off. They put up a total of 29 bench points, but more importantly, played well together and defended well. This team seems to have so much more depth than the Thunder teams of the past, and it seems to make Oklahoma City have so much more energy when the starters check back in.

Free throws: B+

Though Oklahoma City shot just 15 total free throws, they did a pretty good job of taking advantage, shooting 80 percent from the charity stripe. Free throws have been a problem all season, but the Thunder were able to negate that just a little bit tonight.

Block out: A

As Billy mentioned in his post game presser, Oklahoma City was great in the rebounding column. They out rebounded the Cavs 50 to 43, eight of those 50 coming on the offensive end. Oklahoma City did a good job of limiting Cleveland to just one chance of scoring on each possession.